Starting-electrode for vapor electric devices.



S. W. PRNSWORTI'I & 0. P. SCHUSTER.

STARTING ELECTRODE FR VAPOR ELECTRIC DEVICES.

v APPLICATION FILED FEB. 5. 19H. 1,159,915.

H 1 9 0 N 1.. .m 9 W ...h v. m A 0 17 N d m., 9 @A E m P f WITNESSESentran srarns @ratsam-i ernten.

SDNEY W. FABNSWORTH AND OTTO P. SCHUSTER. OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA,ASSIGNORS TO WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A

CORPORATION PENNSYLVANIA.

STARTING-ELECTBODE FOR VAPOR ELECTRIC DEVICES.

Application filed February 5. 1914.

lle it known that we, Sumar YY. Faussivoizrii and OTro l). Sonesta-1u,citizens oi' the Tuited States. and residents of l)ittsburgh. in thecounty' ot' Allegheny and State ot' Pennsylvania. have invented a newand useful Improvement in' Starting-Electrodes for lfapor ElectricDevices` ot which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to vapor electric dcviccs such as rectifier-s andlamps. and it has particularl reference to starting or keepingalive`r`electrodes for metal-case rectiticrs of high capacity. l

One of the objects of our invention to provide electrodes in which the.Aadjustment made necessary-by the occasional cxtinetion of the are isautomatically effected.

.ik further object of our invention is to provide means, in addition tothe automatic means, by which the initial position of the electrode maybe manually adjusted.

A still further object ot' our invention to supply a starting electrodewith an indi- Gator on the exterior ot' the casing which will clearlyand positively show the position of the electrode.

n the accompanying drawing, which shows one embodiment of our invention,Figure l is a vertical sectional view o tl a portion of a metal-caserectifier equipped with our keepingalive electrode; Fig. 2 is a planView of the exterior portion of the electrode, the solenoid beingomitted, and Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional View, taken on the lineIII-HL ot' l*1 ig. 1.

Referring to Fig. l of the dra-wing, a portion of the easing l is shownand also a port-ion of the cover?. An opening 3 in the cover issurrounded by a circular groove t in which is fixed a collar 5. Abushing 6 ot' porcelain or other suitable insulating ma* teria-l extendsthrough the opening into the casing and is provided withan annularshoulder 7 which rests upon the cover, as shown. A second annularshoulder S euthe sides of the opening and serves to center' the bushingtherein. )t washer 9 of asbestos or other suitable slightly compressiblematerial rests upon the uppeiI tace of the shoulder T, and. upon thiswasher. a metal bushing` l() is adapted to l `ar. "he bushing l0 has aflange 1l the form of which is clearly vShown in Fig, Q and` as will beSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 9, 1915.

serial no. 516.847.

apparent therefrom and from Fig. l, the

flange 1l secured to the cover at several polnts by tap bolts l2. Spacesare lett between the collar 5. the bushing (i and the bushing lt) thatmay be filled with mercurv to insure a hermetic seal between the bushingG and thc cover :2. lf desired. the Shoulder T may be made thicker thanis shown on the drawing, to elevate the washer S) above the mei-cur)yseal.

The bushing` G extends a considerable disthe bushing (3 b v .meansait aring` 2T of a 75 suitable cement. rThe bushing t is intel'- nallythreaded, and a sleeve 2S is secured therein by means ot' a threadedcollar 29 thatis rigidly fixed to the sleeve. The

sleeve QS surrounds the threaded portion 23 80 ot' the tubular member 22and extends nearly to the knob 24. A nut C is mounted to travel on therod 22% and carries a pin 47 that projects through a slot in the sleeve28, whereby tbc nut is prevented from tu'rn- 85 ing. but is permitted totravel vertically when the rod 235 is turned by the knob 2l. An openingQ9 .is provided in the collar Q9 through which mercury may be introducedinto the space between the bushing (3 and tlie 90 tubular member QQ.suitlable gum may be placed above the mercury to keep the latter fromdisplacement. spring 30 surrounds the tubular member 22 and presses atone end against the shoulder 2l and at the other 95 end against thesleeve .t sleeve 3l in closes the sprintf7 and keeps it from Contactwith the gum above the mercury seal.

Screwed into thc tubular member 2'2 and extending into the lower part ofthe. bushing this a threaded rod Q5 of niagnetizable material having anenlargement 3'.) at its lower cnd. A trame 33 is suspended troni theenlargement 3; and, through the bottom oi this trame. projectsa rod '35ot` mag- 105 netizable material which terminates in an enlargement 15hsimilar to the enlargement The rod is capable of vertical moverThe,tubular member 22 70 .small distance because it has been foundadvantageous to keep the point of the electrode as near the surface ofthe mercury as practicable, thus giving a short, hot arc. The frame v33)may be formed of nickel, of copper plated with nickel. or of an alloy ofnickel and iron having low magnet1c permeability, and it is convenientlymade off a strap of some such non-magnetic material, bent into the shapeshown in Fig. l. I ,i

Surrounding the bushing C. at a point immediately outside of' the frameis a solenoid 3S. which may be electrically connected in series withthe' circuit which energizes the starting anode-40. It will be observedfrom the foregoing description that the rods Q5 and 35 perform thefunction of a d1- vided magnet core and that, when the solenoid 3S isenergized. these rods being of op-v pesite polarity will tend toapproach each other. Since. however. the rod is fixed, the rod will belifted vertically as ar as the pin 3T will permit. The rod orcoresection is adapted to serve as a hanger 'or the electrode l0.through the instrumentality of a. rod il. The electrode l0 may beJformed of carbon, tungsten, molyb-- denum or other suitable materialand may be joined to the rod il by means of a connector-v 42 having anenlargement 43 at its lower end to support a sleeve 44 ot quartz orother suitable insulating material which surrounds therod -1l. Thevertical motion of ilie core section causes the electrode/40 to bein'lmersedin. and removed from. a pool of mercury l?) which forms' thecathode l ot the reetilier. and the quartz sleeve -l-l is held in avertical position b v a centering piece lS that is mounted on a quartzring lll with which tht-'cathode is surrmmded.

ln order to permit Jf'ree passage ot' the current around the movingoperating parts, a flexible connector or shunt 5() is disposed aroundthe core-section 35 and connected to the i'ranu- Il?) and to the rod llat its june-- tion .with the core section 2&5. The shunt 5() not onlyreduces the resistance within thc rectifier but. by defiecting most ofthe current Jfrom the moving parts. prevents them from injury. rTheframe El?) may well be provided with a graphite bushing at the point'where the rod 235 passes through it.

Before the rectifier is put in operation. the startingr electrode l0occupies its lower position shown in l"ig.i1. in which position its endtdips into the mercury cathode.4 Direct current is supplied to thestarting electrode trontany convenient source. such as a storagebattery, a small motor generator set or .stroy the vacuum.

a small rectifier bulb auxiliary to the main rectifier. The solenoid 38is also energized. since it is in series with the starting electrode.and the core section 3 5 is thus drawn upward, thereby raising theelectrode -ll from the mercury cathode and drawing a starting arc or".the desired length between these electrodes. The parts remain in thisrelation until the main`arc is extinguished and thecircuit thus broken.being no longer energized, releases the core section and the electrode40 drops back into mercury pool. thus rte-establishing the circuit andenergizing the solenoid. whereby the electrode -is again drawn from themercury pool and another arc established.A It will thus be seen that thearc is automatically kept alive as long as the electrode i0, when in itslowest position, can dip-beneath the surface ofthe mercury cathode.ll'hen.

however, theend of the anode is burned away, so that further adjustmentis desirable, this may be effected by turning the knob 2l and.consequently. the tubular member 22 in the proper direction to force thecore section 25 farther into the vacuum chamber. This manual adjustmentis necessary only at considerable intervals, and there is, therefore,little danger thatv the parts in frictional contact will be wornsufliciently to injure the hermetic seal and de- Provision can easily beThe solenoid. "f5

made for a much longer keeping-alive elecf 'trodethan the one shownirfthe drawing,y

which would need to be replaced only at long intervals.

The frame 33 is prevented from rotating by the inner walls of thebushing` 6 which are ot' elliptical form, as is clearly shown on Fig. 3.i

It will be observed that the threaded rods 23 andvf are of the samediameter and are. similarly threaded; The movement of the nut -lG on therod corresponds, therefore, to the movement of the electrode 40, and thepin l? consequently indicates the position of the electrode.

It is obvious that numerous modifications v may be made in this devicewithout departing from the spirit and scope of our invention. andtherefore, we do not Wish to be restricted to the precise structuraldetails which we lhave shown and described. our invention being limitedonly by the scope of the appended claims. i

ll'e claim as our invention: l

l. ik vapor electric device comprising a n casing,` a vapornableelectrode and a ,starting electrode contained within the casing,automatic means for operating the starting electrode, and independentmeans for manually adjusting the position of the starting electrode.

2. A vapor electric' device comprising' a' vacuum chamber, an electrodetherein, and

rse

means exterior to the chamber for indicating the position of theelectrode.

A vapor electric device comprising a vacuum chamber, an electrodetherein. means operated from the exterior of the chamber for varying theposition of the electrode. and means exterior to the chamber forindicating the position of the electrode.

l. A vapor electric device comprising a vacuum chamber. a vaporizableelectrode and a starting electrode. contained in the chaluber, meansembodying a loose couplingfor manually reciprocating said startingelectrode. and electromagnetic means for also reciprocating saidstarting electrode and operating at said loose coupling.

5. A vapor electric device comprising a casing, an electrode vvithin thecasing, and means extending into the casing for varying the position ofthe electrode, said means comprising a threaded rod from which theelectrode is suspended. a turnable tubular vmember into which the rod isscrewed, a bushing surrounding the tubular member and having aninternal' annular seat"y an annular shoulder formed on the tubularmember and adapted to rest on the annular seat nuthin the bushing. andmeans tor producing a vacuum-tight seal between the.

means controllable at a distance from the .f

casing for ettecting a separation of the elec trodes to a predeterminedextent. and independent means for causing the movable electrode toapproach the vaporizable electrode to compensate for the burning away ofthe movable electrode. v

In testimony whereof. We have hereunto subscribed our names this 30thday ot' Jan.. 1914.

SIDEY l?, FARSYORTH.

OTTO P. SCHUSTER.

Witnesses DAvIn E. CARPENTER. B. B. HINES.

